Halifax, NS – The STFX X-Men defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 124-78 in Game 1 of the Dalhousie Shoveller Tournament Thursday afternoon. With the win the X-Men advance to the semifinal game Friday night at 6:00 pm.
The X-Men got out to a commanding 72-33 lead after the first half of play. They outscored the Huskies 35-17 in the first quarter and 37-16 in the second.
X-Men guard Avan Nava led the blue and white with 15 points in the first half, including going 3 for 5 from three-point range.
David Muenkat netted 12 points and Antoine Vernon scored 11 as he nailed consecutive three-pointers to close out the half.
The X-Men had an 18-point run to end the second quarter as they shot 58.1% from field goal range in the opening 20 minutes, including 26 points coming from the bench.
Dontae Mitchell lead the Huskies with 13 points in the opening half.
The X-Men were without the services of guard Dondre Reddick who remains out of the line-up due to an injury. Forward Deon Ejim received a technical foul and was ejected from game in the first quarter.
The Huskies regrouped and played a closer third quarter with less turnovers as they trailed 25-21 to the X-Men in the third. STFX were up 97-54 after three.
STFX outscored the Huskies 27-24 in the fourth quarter on route to the decisive 124-78 victory.
Nava finished with a game-high 23 points and had six rebounds for the X-Men, while STFX player of the game Muenkat had a double-double game with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The X-Men had six players in the double scoring digits in their highest point tally of the season to date.
Keyonte Beals scored 17 points for X, Vernon had 16, Gatluak James contributed 15 and Bennett Grumbach netted 11.
Mitchell finished with 21 points for Saint Mary's and had six assists. Jayrell Diggs scored 16.
STFX outrebounded the Huskies 40-25 in the game.
The X-Men will now play Concordia in Friday night's semifinal. Tip-off is 6:00 pm at the Dalplex.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics
Shoveller: Congratulations to the player of the game, David Muenket from @StFXAthletics. pic.twitter.com/FU670mQiuf
— Dal Tigers (@DalTigers) December 29, 2022